readnhchurricane#

[tsdate, tstime, lattrack, longtrack, MaxSustWindvelSI, MinPressureSI, rMeter, MaxSustWindvelKt, MinPressureMb, rMile,recordid, systemstatus]...
= readnhchurricane(filename, filelocation, hurricanename, hurricaneyear, hearderlinelen, dispout)

Description#

Read and extracts hurricane data from National Hurricane Center (NHC) HURDAT2 file

Inputs#

filename=’hurdat2.txt’;
Name of HURDAT2 file between ‘ ‘ mark, example: ‘hurdat2.txt’
HURDAT2 file can be obtained from www.nhc.noaa.gov/data
Columns in HURDAT2 file should be as follow:
column 1: Time series date in YYYYMMDD format
column 2: Time series time in HHMM format
column 3: Record identifier
column 4: Status of system
column 5: Latitude of best track as string in degree
column 6: Longitude of best track as string in degree
column 7: Maximum sustained wind velocity (in knots)
column 8: Minimum Pressure (in millibars)
column 9: 34 kt (17.49 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in northeastern quadrant (in nautical miles)
column 10: 34 kt (17.49 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in southeastern quadrant (in nautical miles)
column 11: 34 kt (17.49 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in southwestern quadrant (in nautical miles)
column 12: 34 kt (17.49 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in northwestern quadrant (in nautical miles)
column 13: 50 kt (25.72 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in northeastern quadrant (in nautical miles)
column 14: 50 kt (25.72 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in southeastern quadrant (in nautical miles)
column 15: 50 kt (25.72 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in southwestern quadrant (in nautical miles)
column 16: 50 kt (25.72 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in northwestern quadrant (in nautical miles)
column 17: 64 kt (32.92 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in northeastern quadrant (in nautical miles)
column 18: 64 kt (32.92 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in southeastern quadrant (in nautical miles)
column 19: 64 kt (32.92 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in southwestern quadrant (in nautical miles)
column 20: 64 kt (32.92 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in northwestern quadrant (in nautical miles)
filelocation=pwd;

Location of HURDAT2 file between ‘ ‘ mark, example: ‘C:'

hurricanename=’KATRINA’;
Hurricane name between ‘ ‘ mark, example: ‘KATRINA’
‘all’ will read all data in the file
hurricaneyear=2005;
Year that hurricane occurs
Hurricane Katrina occured in 2005
if hurricanename=’all’; then hurricaneyear is ignored
hearderlinelen=37;
Number of charachters in header line
In HURDAT2 file, hurricane header line has 37 charachters (including spaces)
In HURDAT2 file, hurricane data line has 120 charachters (including spaces)
dispout=’no’;

Define to display outputs or not (‘yes’: display, ‘no’: not display)

Outputs#

tsdate

Time series date in YYYYMMDD format

tstime

Time series time in HHMM format

lattrack
Latitude of best track in (Degree)
from -90 degree to +90 degree
longtrack
Longitude of best track (Degree)
from -180 degree to +180 degree
MaxSustWindvelSI
Maximum sustained wind velocity in (m/s)
It is defined as the maximum 1-min average wind at an elevation of 10 m
MinPressureSI
Minimum (central) pressure in (Pa)
rMeter
Wind radii maximum in (m)
1st column: 34 kt (17.49 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in northeastern quadrant in (m)
2nd column: 34 kt (17.49 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in southeastern quadrant in (m)
3rd column: 34 kt (17.49 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in southwestern quadrant in (m)
4th column: 34 kt (17.49 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in northwestern quadrant in (m)
5th column: 50 kt (25.72 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in northeastern quadrant in (m)
6th column: 50 kt (25.72 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in southeastern quadrant in (m)
7th column: 50 kt (25.72 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in southwestern quadrant in (m)
8th column: 50 kt (25.72 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in northwestern quadrant in (m)
9th column: 64 kt (32.92 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in northeastern quadrant in (m)
10th column: 64 kt (32.92 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in southeastern quadrant in (m)
11th column: 64 kt (32.92 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in southwestern quadrant in (m)
12th column: 64 kt (32.92 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in northwestern quadrant in (m)
MaxSustWindvelKt
Maximum sustained wind velocity in (knots)
It is defined as the maximum 1-min average wind at an elevation of 10 m
MinPressureMb

Minimum (central) pressure in (millibars)

rMile
Wind radii maximum in (nautical miles)
1st column: 34 kt (17.49 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in northeastern quadrant in (nautical miles)
2nd column: 34 kt (17.49 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in southeastern quadrant in (nautical miles)
3rd column: 34 kt (17.49 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in southwestern quadrant in (nautical miles)
4th column: 34 kt (17.49 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in northwestern quadrant in (nautical miles)
5th column: 50 kt (25.72 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in northeastern quadrant in (nautical miles)
6th column: 50 kt (25.72 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in southeastern quadrant in (nautical miles)
7th column: 50 kt (25.72 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in southwestern quadrant in (nautical miles)
8th column: 50 kt (25.72 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in northwestern quadrant in (nautical miles)
9th column: 64 kt (32.92 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in northeastern quadrant in (nautical miles)
10th column: 64 kt (32.92 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in southeastern quadrant in (nautical miles)
11th column: 64 kt (32.92 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in southwestern quadrant in (nautical miles)
12th column: 64 kt (32.92 m/s) wind radii maximum extent in northwestern quadrant in (nautical miles)
recordid
Record identifier
L: Landfall (center of system crossing a coastline)
P: Minimum in central pressure
I: An intensity peak in terms of both pressure and maximum wind
S: Change of status of the system
T: Provides additional detail on the track (position) of the cyclone
systemstatus
Status of system
TD: Tropical cyclone of tropical depression intensity (< 34 knots)
TS: Tropical cyclone of tropical storm intensity (34-63 knots)
HU: Tropical cyclone of hurricane intensity (> 64 knots)
EX: Extratropical cyclone (of any intensity)
SD: Subtropical cyclone of subtropical depression intensity (< 34 knots)
SS: Subtropical cyclone of subtropical storm intensity (> 34 knots)
LO: A low that is neither a tropical cyclone, a subtropical cyclone, nor an extratropical cyclone (of any intensity)
DB: Disturbance (of any intensity)
Note: In all original outputs, missing values are noted as ‘-999’
In all SI outputs, missing values are noted as ‘NaN’

Examples#

filename='hurdat2.txt';
filelocation=pwd;
filelocation='C:';
[tsdate,tstime,lattrack,longtrack,MaxSustWindvelSI,MinPressureSI,rMeter,MaxSustWindvelKt,MinPressureMb,rMile,recordid,systemstatus]...
    =readnhchurricane(filename,filelocation,'KATRINA',2005,37,'yes');

References#

Data

  • www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/

  • www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/hurdat/hurdat2-format-nencpac.pdf

  • coast.noaa.gov/hurricanes

  • www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/data_sub/re_anal.html